Time Warner Cable subscribers who want to watch CBS programs on the network's website are out of luck as a result of the distribution fight between the two companies. CBS makes a substantial amount of its content available on CBS.com, but it's blocking Time Warner Cable broadband subscribers from accessing its programming as of Friday afternoon. When a Time Warner Cable broadband customer requests to see a CBS show on the CBS website, the words "content not available" appear at the top of the screen and then an ad critical of the cable company appears.

Time Warner Cable found an unusual way to land programming for its regional sports channel in Southern California. College football and basketball games from San Diego State, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and Fresno State will appear Time Warner Cable SportsNet, which launches in October and is already home to the Lakers and the Galaxy. To get the rights, Time Warner Cable had to do a little wheeling and dealing with CBS. According to people familiar with the matter, CBS Sports Network, a cable channel that focuses primarily on college sports, agreed to swap the rights to the games in return for greater distribution on Time Warner Cable systems.

Time Warner Cable is planning major upgrades to its Los Angeles and New York operations. The cable giant, which is resisting a takeover attempt by Charter Communications, said Thursday it will be substantially boosting Internet speeds and its video-on-demand platforms. The improvements in Time Warner Cable's two biggest markets are part of an overall three-year plan to upgrade its systems across the nation. “We'll triple Internet speeds for customers with our most popular tiers of service, add more community Wi - Fi , dramatically improve the TV product and, perhaps most importantly, we'll set a high bar in our industry for differentiated, exceptional customer service," promised Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Rob Marcus.

Time Warner Cable subscribers can now take a lot of their television lineup with them on the road. The cable company, which has more than 2 million subscribers in Southern California, is now offering its customers the ability to access content from popular cable channels such as MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon via Apple's tablet devices and mobile phones. The agreement is unique because it will allow Time Warner Cable subscribers to view content even if they are not in an area serviced by the cable company.

Time Warner Cable is shaking up its executive staff. The nation's second-largest cable company said Monday that Arthur Minson is returning to Time Warner Cable as the company's chief financial officer after several years working in the executive ranks of AOL. He was most recently that company's chief operating officer. Minson, a former Time Warner Cable chief operating officer, will report to the company's Chief Executive Glenn Britt. PHOTOS: Hollywood Backlot moments “We're delighted to welcome Artie back to Time Warner Cable,” Britt said in a statement.

If Time Warner Cable is sold, its new owner is also likely to inherit some pretty expensive sports deals. Besides owning cable systems that have more than 11 million subscribers, Time Warner Cable owns two regional sports networks in Los Angeles and is preparing to launch a third next year. It also owns a piece of a sports channel in New York City and has an Ohio outlet as well. But it is the Los Angeles outlets that are the big-ticket items. SportsNet and Deportes, launched last year, are home to the Lakers.

Lakers fans aren't the only ones cheering the recent additions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to the team's starting lineup. Time Warner Cable is also probably sending Lakers brass a big thank-you note. In October, Time Warner Cable will launch both English-language and Spanish-language sports channels in Los Angeles, and a strong Lakers team is key to the company's success. The addition of two superstars to the team will give the cable company a little more juice in negotiations for distribution with satellite broadcasters DirecTV and Dish as well as AT&T's Uverse and other pay-TV providers in the region.

After a tense day of negotiations and a brief blackout, Time Warner Cable and CBS are giving themselves a little more time to come to terms on a new distribution deal. The two companies said early Tuesday morning that they have extended their current contract to Friday at 2 p.m. Pacific time. CBS and Time Warner Cable are struggling to reach a new accord on what the cable distributor will pay to carry channels owned by CBS, including KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KCAL-TV Channel 9 Los Angeles, WCBS-TV New York and the premium network Showtime.

The tense negotiations for a new distribution deal between CBS and Time Warner Cable turned bizarre Monday night as the pay-TV distributor started to pull down networks owned by CBS, only to stop the process after a few minutes. Around 9 p.m., Time Warner Cable alerted the media that it was pulling down channels owned by CBS including KCBS-TV Channel 2 and KCAL-TV Channel 9 in Los Angeles, KCBS-TV in New York and the cable network Showtime. Time Warner Cable said in a statement that the "outrageous demands" by CBS forced it to remove several of its networks and local stations from its lineups.

David Letterman picked a good time to go on a vacation. Since Time Warner Cable stopped carrying CBS-owned TV stations in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas a week ago, all three outlets have experienced rating declines for both national programming and local news. "The Late Show with David Letterman" has been in reruns this week, so the lower numbers for his show aren't alarming. But many of the local newscasts in Los Angeles, New York and Dallas have bled viewers, as Time Warner Cable is a a major pay-TV distributor in those markets.